Hi Mbaddah,
Quote:
Originally Posted by norm
Hi Adrian,
I'll be biased here and say Ostahowski.
If your budget is tight, the GSO serves its purpose, the option is that you can always upgrade in the years to come. IMO, if your going to spend the bucks on an SDM why not go the whole distance and go with the premium optics.
Each to there own, but this is one vote for a T.O mirror.
I have no issues with mine.
Cheers Norm 
PS: have you tried contacting Mark Sutching for a price - superb mirrors from an Australian. |
I agree with every word Norm has posted here. I have two main 'scopes: my 31cm (12") with a Deep Sky Optics (DSO) (Mark Suchting) mirror that is an outstanding performer. Highly recommended.
I have two friends who also have DSO mirrors in their 'scopes. One is a 41cm (16") f/4.5 that started life as mirror from another well-known manufacturer (not one of the ones mentioned here) that had a good 1/2 wave of spherical aberration. Mark re-figured it and it is now superb. Another friend has a 50cm (20") f/5 from Mark -- also an outstanding performer.
My 46cm (18") is a "Discovery" mirror that was made by Terry Ostahowski. Superb optic. Can't fault it. Highly recommended.
That is not to necessarily "bag" the GSO mirror -- but it is a mass produced product and accordingly it is less expensive mainly because of the economies of scale and the cost of labour elsewhere.
Certainly some mass produced mirrors I've seen are also excellent. I've looked through maybe 10-15 GSO newtonian 'scopes (6-12"). Some were brief experiences while others I had a good opportunity to assess the optics. From those experiences, I can't
personally say I've seen what I'd call a "dud". That is not to deny that they exist. I have
heard from reliable sources of a couple of 'scopes that were not up to scratch.
For
consistency, it's hard to beat a hand-figured "just-for-you" optic. You pay a premium, but you are assured of a premium product. If you ever have to re-sell it, you'll get the difference you paid in the first place back.
On the other hand, you might well get a very good or excellent GSO mirror that will be functionally comparable to a premium-priced one and have some dough left-over for a couple of nice eyepieces.
Up to you ...
Best,
Les D